of dirty brown water, and knew the river
only by the rushing and roaring of the stream. The river rolled against us
trees, moss, and large masses of peat, so that it was only with great
trouble and danger that we could proceed. At the end of the second day we
were only a short distance up the stream; some one had to stand with the
sounding-rod in hand continually, and the boat received so many shocks
that it shuddered to the keel. A wooden vessel would have been smashed.
Around us we saw nothing but the flooded land.... The Indigirka, here, had
torn up the land and worn itself a fresh channel, and when the waters sank
we saw, to our astonishment, that the old river-bed had become merely that
of an insignificant stream.... The stream rolled over and tore up the
soft, wet ground like chaff, so that it was dangerous to go near the
brink. While we were all quiet, we heard under our feet a sudden gurgling
and stirring, which betrayed the working of the disturbed water. Suddenly
our jagger, ever on the look-out, called loudly, and pointed to a singular
and unshapely object, which rose and sank.... Now we all hastened to the
spot on shore, had the boat drawn near, and waited until the mysterious
thing should again show itself. Our patience was tried, but at last a
black, horrible giant-like mass was thrust out of the water, and we beheld
a colossal elephant's head, armed with mighty tusks, with its long trunk
moving in the water in an unearthly manner, as though seeking for
something lost therein.... I beheld the monster hardly twelve feet from
me, with his half-open eyes yet showing the whites. It was still in good
preservation....

"Picture to yourself an elephant with a body covered with thick fur, about
thirteen feet in height and fifteen in length, with tusks eight feet long,
thick, and curving outward at their ends, a stout trunk of six feet in
length, colossal limbs of one and a half feet in thickness, and a tail
naked up to the end, which was covered with thick tufty hair. The animal
was fat and well grown; death had overtaken him in the fulness of his
powers. His parchment-like, large, naked ears lay turned up over the head;
about the shoulders and on the back he had stiff hair, about a foot in
length, like a mane. The long outer hair was deep brown and coarsely
rooted. The top of the head looked so wild and so penetrated with pitch
that it resembled the rind of an old oak tree. On the sides it was
cleaner, and under